The
infraNET Project and
Waterloo Institute for Health Informatics Research
at the University of Waterloo present ...Human Computer Interaction in Health Informatics:
From Laboratory Usability Testing to
Televaluation
of Web-based Information Systems

by

Dr. Andre Kushniruk
Associate Professor and Director, Arts
Information Technology Program
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University

Wednesday, June
23, 2004
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Davis Centre, Room 1302
University of Waterloo

This seminar is of
interest to Health and IT Executives, IS/IT Staff, Faculty and Students.
There is no charge for this event. However, we ask that you
register to attend.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Advances in health informatics and the advent of e-Health
promise to radically change and improve health care. In this
presentation, approaches to assessing the use and usability of a number
of innovative and emerging health care information systems will be
discussed. The discussion will draw on examples from the evaluation of
a number of health applications, ranging from computerized patient
record systems to Web-based clinical guidelines. The approaches
described will be considered along a continuum ranging from
laboratory-based usability testing to naturalistic study of system
use. An integrated framework will be discussed for conducting
evaluations of information systems, which borrows from advances in a
number of fields, including cognitive, information and computer
science, as well as the emerging field of usability engineering. Application
of video analysis for assessing human-computer interaction in health
care settings will be illustrated along with recent work in developing
methods for the televaluation of Web-based information resources. The
focus of the research is on improving our understanding of the
cognitive processes involved in using advanced technology in order to
improve system usability and enhance patient and health care workers
understanding and decision-making. Implications will be discussed in
the context of the iterative development of improved systems. Ongoing
extension of the research approach to the evaluation of usability of
Web-based information resources will also be discussed.

Andres Kushniruk is Associate Professor and Director of
the Information Technology Program in the Faculty of Arts at York
University. He has expertise in the areas of health informatics,
system evaluation and human-computer interaction in health care. He
has written numerous papers on topics related to improving the
usability of health care information systems and has worked
extensively in the areas of medical informatics and usability
engineering. His development of methods for conducting video analysis
of computer users has been applied worldwide and he is currently
extending his research to the remote study of system usability. He has
experience consulting on a variety of research projects, including
work with the World Bank in developing novel methods for the analysis
of complex decision making and continued work with hospitals throughout
Canada and the United States in the development of innovative
information systems. Dr. Kushniruk has taught at a number of
universities in Canada. He holds undergraduate degrees in Psychology
and Biology, as well as graduate degrees in Computer Science and
Cognitive Psychology. For the past ten years he has worked on health
informatics related projects with a number of universities including
the University of Toronto, McGill s Centre for Medical Education, the
Departments of Medical Informatics and Computer Science, Columbia
University and Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York. Prior to his
academic career, Dr. Kushniruk worked in industry developing
knowledge-based systems and novel applications of information technology.

For more information

Seminar Hosts

This seminar is hosted by the Waterloo Institute for
Health Informatics Research (WIHIR) and The infraNET Project,
University of Waterloo.

The infraNET Project, initiated by the
University of Waterloo in 1996, is a partnership to advance Web and
Internet technologies. Its founding partners are: LivePage (now part
of Siebel), MKS, Open Text, RIM, Sybase (Waterloo) and Waterloo Maple.

We also gratefully acknowledge the
assistance of the Institute for Computer Research, University of
Waterloo.